


Gilbert

by hellofromorlando



Series: Gold [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, Mentor/Protégé, the last 4 people are only mentioned but theyre mentioned multiple times so i decided to tag them, this is just wholesome father/son bonding except theyre not father and son, this series eventually turns into deduexdimitri but it will take some time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 00:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20380807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellofromorlando/pseuds/hellofromorlando
Summary: When he was younger, Gustave taught him of the art of smelting jewelry: though he didn't know it at the time, Gustave was teaching young Dimitri about a very popular tradition in Faerghus, where making jewelry for a loved one is a large romantic gesture.





	Gilbert

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of just separated my fanfiction into 4 parts, because why not? This is the first chapter, and the next will be coming out soon (I think) and will go more into depth with the whole smelting jewelry thing being romantic

Everyone is known to be a bit clumsy when they first learn how to do something. There are also things that come naturally to most people, like their given gift. 

Dimitri had not found that gift yet, and he had already been taught most everything he could in his first thirteen years of living. Maybe he had just been born with a tendency to mess up when he was nervous or in an unfamiliar situation. Either way, he still yearned to discover something that he was instinctively good at. Whether it be weeding or axe-throwing, he consistently searched for something, anything, that may become his gift.

"Since you are growing older, young prince, I would like to teach you something. Let me know when you have the time," Gustave had told Dimitri last week, constantly reminding him in the back of his mind for his desperate need for free time since then. When was he busy? When was he not busy? Dimitri was terrible at keeping track of these kinds of things.

At this point, he had had enough. He was tired of the same old routine of acting as prince of Fódlan, and needed something new to occupy his days of youth before he would be sent off to Garreg Mach soon enough to begin his studies, and lead the house of the Blue Lions. 

One of the merchants bowed his head in reverence, calling for his attention. "Good morning, your Majesty! Are you interested in any of our wares? For you, it is of course free of charge."

They always said that, didn't they? It was kind of strange to give out free items to the ones that would obviously have enough money to buy out their entire stock. Then again, that could possibly be what they're trying to avoid.

Dimitri nodded politely. "I appreciate the kind offer, sir, but I must be on my way." His words were a mile ahead of his mind, and before he knew it, he was on his way to his long-awaited meeting with one of Fódlan's greatest knights.

\---

"Prince Dimitri," his voice, worn with age and war, called over to him. He seemed a bit surprised, probably just taken aback that the prince had appeared so suddenly.

The first person today to call him by his name, he noticed. Even his parents were not able to acknowledge him this morning, as he slipped out while they were inviting some old friend into the castle. It happened often, maybe once or twice a month; which Dimitri didn't mind, since it was his only oppurtunity to get out of the tarnished building without a speck of responsibilities to worry about for the day. He was surprised that his father wasn't questioning his whereabouts, though. It goes to show how much they truly care.

"Good afternoon, Lord Dominic," Dimitri greeted, holding out a hand to shake. Gustave chuckled and held his hand, giving it a firm jolt. 

"You always are so formal, aren't you?" Gilbert responded through his hearty laugh, and when Dimitri stayed silent and just tilted his head in confusion, he stopped laughing and cleared his throat. "So, are you here for that lesson I offered you?"

Dimitri curtly nodded, excitement clearly manifesting in his glowing teal eyes. 

"Alright, then. Follow me, your Highness," Gustave said, beckoning the young prince to follow him. Dimitri strode close behind the red-haired knight, focusing his eyes on the long braid that trailed down the man's back, swinging in the air as he walked. 

A little girl with pigtails and large, curious eyes peeked her head out of one of the doors, grabbing her father's sleeve to call for his attention. 

"Father, why is the prince here?" she asked in a hushed tone, as if Dimitri could not already hear her. She seemed to notice this too, her cheeks turning a bit pink as she caught Dimitri's gaze.

"I am going to teach the young boy something new," Gustave responded, gently patting his daughter's hair. 

Her eyes glew with a new passion. Dimitri inquired that she probably had the same childish curiosity as he had when it came to learning new things. 

"That's amazing! Is it wood-carving? If it is, I'd love to help you teach him!" She jumped, fists bumping the air in excitement. 

"Unfortunately not, Annette. I was actually going to introduce Dimitri to the fine art of smelting," Gilbert explained, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Annette did not seem to agree, according to the look on her face.

"Oh, okay. Have fun with that," Annette responded, with less elation than she previously had. She retreated back into her room, not forgetting to acknowledge the prince first, giving him a welcoming smile. The prince hoped that he would meet her again soon. 

"Alright, your Highness, let's go meet the blacksmith."

And so, Dimitri followed Gustave through the bustlin streets of Faerghus' capital city. He led him through dank alleyways and busy marketplaces, until he reached one marketplace where he stop at the very smallest corner, locating a smithery pavilion.

A woman stood there, a smile of familiarity on her face as she greeted Gustave. He must be a regular here, Dimitri wondered.

"Good morning, Delilah," Gustave greeted, bowing respectively towards the woman. She just chuckled heartily, and grabbed the nearest axe to sharpen.

She then set her eyes on Dimitri, who was shyly watching the conversation from behind Gustave. "And what are ye doin' here with this young one at yer side? Here to sharpen to tools for him, are ye?"

The two adults laughed in unison, like some kind of inside joke that Dimitri didn't understand. He just smiled and tried to make himself look like he knew what they were talking about.

"This is Prince Dimitri," Gustave greeted Dimitri, pushing him on the back to present him. "Heir to the throne of Faerghus."

The blacksmith's eyes widened, and she miraculously gained a sense of properness to her demeanor by bowing to the child. "Yer Highness... an honor to meet ye. What can I do for ye?" She offered, standing up straight and returning to her work like normal.

Gustave was doing all the talking, so Dimitri just waited for the knight to speak. "I want to teach him how to smelt jewelry."

Delilah eyed Gustave strangely, and then smirked at the young boy. "Ah, I see. Have a special someone in yer life? Could it be that girl that I heard about? The daughter of the new queen of Faerghus?"

Dimitri's cheeks turned pink, but he nodded in disagreement.

"Ah, I see. Sorry about that. Rude of me to make assumptions," Delilah apologized, still acutely fixated on sharpening that axe.

"Its no problem," Dimitri dismissed, waving his hand in front of him saying that it was no trouble, "But Gustave..." He addressed, turning back towards the red-haired man. "You didn't tell me that this had something to do with romance. Why now? I am a bit young still. Don't you think it's too soon?"

Gustave patted Dimitri on the head, just like what he did to Annette less than an hour ago. It felt like ages since then, though, in his longing to just finally get this lesson in.

"Don't worry about all of that, your Highness. I know that you're afraid of growing up too fast, but this has nothing to do with it," Gustave read from the book of Dimitri's own insecurities. "I only wanted you to learn something new for once, and in case anything ever happens to me, it might be better to teach you this sooner, since your father advised me to do this." Dimitri knew Gustave wasn't forced to do this, though. It was probably a mere suggestion from Lambert, but since Gustave was so determined to help out any of his good friends whenever it was possible, he would not pass up this oppurtunity.

"All right, then," Delilah said, making her presence known again, breaking a very meaningful conversation between the two of them. "All the tools ye need should be at the back o' the tent. Have at ye."

Gustave gripped Dimitri's hand and pulled him over to the back of the smithery tent. 

"Now we don't have gold for you to practice on, of course," Gustave explained, reaching into one of the wooden drawers, taking out a small piece of brass-colored material, "but we do have copper. I'm sure you can start with a ring or a bracelet, whatever you prefer." 

"Let's make a bracelet," Dimitri decided, "I'm not very good at handling or making small trinkets, so I'm afraid a ring would be too difficult for me to create."

Gustave's eyes shone with pride for the son he never had, amazed at how incredibly mature this child was. Then again, as prince he must have been used to setting an example for his peers.

"Sounds good then. We'll start with a bracelet," Gustave said, placing the small piece of copper on the workbench. "Now, Dimitri, have you ever worked with extremely hot materials before?"

Dimitri gulped. He didn't have any clue as to how smelting worked, but he did not seem very confident about hearing that. He was terrible with high temperatures, especially living in somewhere so cold for his entire life.

"Um... I guess so, sir. In the kitchen, I sometimes cook myself a meal late at night. Some of the workers even help me learn new recipes," Dimitri reminisced, remembering late nights in the kitchen with some of the cooks, who worked way too hard for too little recognition. They had hundreds of mouths to feed at the castle, and an especially more significant amount of work when there were feasts, but they would always find the time to help Dimitri learn how to cook himself. He was greatly indebted to them, and sometimes offered to help them cook and serve meals: which always causes his father to frown and scold him for insulting the cook's expertise, although that wasn't what Dimitri meant at all.

Gustave startled Dimitri out of his stupor when he put a metal rod in the young prince's hands. "Alright, now be careful. This rod is over 1000 degrees. It is meant to bend the metal." He guided Dimitri's stiff arms from the burner over to the over to the workbench, the red portion of the rod slowly melting the copper as it came into close contact with it.

"There you go. Now wait a few minutes — and do not move — while I go find you a bracelet mold," Gustave ordered, and took off to inspecting all of the drawers of the workshop, obviously not knowing the location of the molds or having the motivation to go over and ask Delilah.

Dimitri stared at the alarmingly sweltering piece of metal in his hands, his eyes focusing on the bright red end of the stick in fear of accidentally touching it or hitting himself with it. 

Eventually, a few minutes threaded into several, and Dimitri's mind wandered when he looked up to watch the red-headed knight search through every nook and cranny of the shop. Why hadn't he asked for Delilah's help yet?

He snickered through his nose, some sort of whinnying sound coming out of his closed mouth. Gustave always acted so put together, but sometimes he was a complete mess. That man never knew what to do in any situation, since he was always so fixated on his way around it.

Gustave... hmm. He would never think he would feel such a connection with this man, but he did. He barely ever talked to the knight before this, though he did often see him discussing battle plans with Lambert in the castle often. Despite this, he felt... Gustave would play an important part in his life later on, though he did not know exactly when or how. He has felt this same feeling with his close friends, too: Edelgard, Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid, even Rodrigue; but Gustave? He felt it was all too strange to be a coincidence. It could also be his mind playing tricks with him, or something of the sort.

Gustave made his way over with a small tin in his hand, placing it on the work table. He then  
handed Dimitri a large spoon, replacing the now cooling hot rod with it. 

"Now, you're almost done. Sorry that took so long, by the way. I swear the molds were in the bottom of that drawer — ha, guess I was wrong." Now he was just talking to himself, Dimitri pondered. Gustave had an odd essence of years and years of life upon him, yet the man was actually much too young to be acting this way. "Anyways, you just have to gently scoop up the melted copper and pour it into this tin. Don't worry about burning me, I've barely got any working nerves in this hand, anyway." He laughed at that last statement, but Dimitri did not find it funny. In fact, he was slightly worried for his new friend.

Wait... friend? Mentor? He did not know what to call the man. All the same, he knew they still held this strange connection that he could not yet fathom.

So Dimitri followed the instruction that Gustave had given him, using the spoon to pour just the right amount of copper into the mold, still trying his best to avoid getting any of the scorching liquid copper on Gustave.

"Alright, so we have to wait a little bit to have this dry. We can come back tomorrow and you can decorate it, and the bracelet should be all set. How about that?" 

\---

The next day, Dimitri was stuck on how to decorate the bracelet. He did not know if he should add some beautiful pattern, or words, or maybe even a Crest. There were so many options, and he did not know what to pick.

Gustave noticed his agitation, and decided to give him a suggestion. "You know, even though it is customary for jewelry to be given out as a gift for someone you have romantic feelings for, it could also be given as a gift to a good friend. You could make this into a friendship bracelet, if you wanted to."

Dimitri looked up and smiled upon that suggestion. He hadn't thought of that.

Though who would he give it to? He wanted to give it to someone who would preserve it for a long time, and treasure it as a keepsake. He couldn't give it to Sylvain, since he would just give it off to some random girl who would most likely throw it away in rejection. He couldn't give it to Felix, since he would just find it useless as it would be in the way of his training if he were to wear it. Ingrid was never one for jewelry, not matter what kind. And Edelgard... well, he had another gift in mind for her, when the time came.

His mind wandered back to the workers in the kitchen, and one that especially stood out to him. He was around his age, but he was the son of a single mother who could barely make it, and he decided to take up cooking as a hobby which landed him a job in the castle's dining kitchen. He was the one who would usually meet him at night for cooking lessons, and Dimitri would give him leftovers from the meals to bring back home in hopes of repayment.

Gilbert was his name. That's right, Gilbert. Dimitri was sure that he would treasure any gift like this from a dear friend. And it would be a permanent remnant of Dimitri's thanks for all that his friend has done for him.

He carved the letters into the bracelet, one by one, with as much precision as he could muster.

"Gilbert," Gustave spoke as he finished, placing his hand under his chin. "What a nice name. Is this a friend of yours?" 

Dimitri nodded, a smile appearing on his face without him even noticing at the thought of his friend.

"He works in the castle kitchen," Dimitri explained, "He is working to support his mother who is unable to find work."

"Ah, I see. What a noble young man. I am glad to see that you make friends outside of the nobility," Gustave commended.

"Of course," Dimitri answered, like there was any other way to it. "No matter what rank they are or where they come from, everyone should be treated with the same amount of respect, and should be judged according to their deeds rather than their nobility. That is what I believe."

Gustave beamed proudly, wrapping an arm around Dimitri's shoulders and ruffling his hair gently. "You are such a good kid, you know that? Never change, Dimitri. You will be an exceptional king someday."

\---

A year later was the Tragedy of Duscur. 

That day, Dimitri lost everything he knew in his life leading up to then: including Gustave. Yet, he introduced himself to something new, a saving grace among the scars and the loss and the pain that came with the tragedy.

He says Dimitri saved his life that day, but Dimitri could say the same to him.


End file.
